Saint Viator and St. James celebrate the Arts in Concert

St. James School students look over the shoulder of a Saint Viator High School student as they work on collaborative self-portraits to be featured in The Arts in Concert March 18.Courtesy of Saint Viator High School

Saint Viator High School adds a new event to their calendar next week. The Arts in Concert is a combined band and choral concert with students from St. James School, as well as a collaborative self-portrait project completed by the two groups.

The evening begins at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, March 18, with the visual arts show, before audiences make their way into Saint Viator's Jeuck Auditorium for the musical performances.

The joint project started last month, when students in Saint Viator's Art I and Art II classes spent the morning at St. James, working with sixth-graders on their self-portraits to come up with linoleum reduction prints.

The St. James students drew, then printed, the right side of their faces, while the Saint Viator students drew, then printed, the left side of their faces. Their portraits will come together at the exhibit.

"Drawing self-portraits is challenging at any age," St. James art teacher Christine Trausch, a 1978 Sacred Heart of Mary graduate, said, "but the high school students helped to iron out details, offer helpful advice, and make adjustments so that the two drawings fit together.

"This one-on-one cooperation helped to prepare our students," she added, "for the next step in the process."

Mary McDermott, who directs the band program at St. James, and Karen Luehr, who leads its choral groups, said that the evening of collaboration is in line with several of the national standards for music education.

"This is such an exciting opportunity for our young musicians and artists," Mrs. McDermott said. "Music and art are a universal language that relates to all ages."

Mentoring, she added, provides her younger students with the incentive to continue developing their skills to a heightened potential.

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